One Call Away
by AniK
Summary: Bella is in a relationship she doesn't like, then she meets some guys that are willing to give her all the love and excitement that her boyfriend can't give her, but who will she choose? More importantly, is she willing to fall in love with any of them?
1. A Meeting

**Hi! This is my first attempt at writting a Twilight fic so I hope you guys like it! And before you start reading, I would just love to thanks Darkylromantic for being my beta! Ok now, on with the reading!**

**One Call Away**

**Chapter 1: A meeting**

_I haven't ever really found a place that I call home  
I never stick around quite long enough to make it  
I apologize that once again I'm not in love  
But it's not as if I mind  
that your heart ain't exactly breaking_

_Dido_

She was walking through the dark streets, headed towards a bar where she was going to meet her best friend, Alice. They had moved to New Hampshire when they entered Dartmouth College,. They had rented an apartment together at first, but then Alice moved to her boyfriend's apartment and left Bella alone in hers.

She had no problem with it, she could pay the rent, it was the being alone part she hated. So to make up for that she usually spent most of her time outside. She would spend most of her time on campus, studying or going to classes; she would also spend a lot of time in the library. Since she was an English major she had no problem with spending lots of time in the library.

Some time ago she only had one more option, other than campus and the library. She would spend her time with Alice, but since Alice now had a boyfriend Bella had to find a new friend. That's when she met James. He was just the thing she was looking for, a hot guy who had no interest in building a serious relationship. It had worked out marvelously for a while, but then it got serious.

At first she liked it, she liked having a guy around, she liked having a man to call her own. But after almost a year she realized James wasn't the guy for her. He was the guy you had one night stands with; he was most definitely not boyfriend material.

The problem was that she was in too deep now, she cared for him, and he cared for her; but she didn't know how to end things up with him. She knew he would never cheat on her, so she really had no reason to hate him. The guy just bothered her… sometimes.

It was a love/hate relationship. After 6 months she started seeing his flaws. He was too self-absorbed, and he would never be able to love her the way she would be able to love him. She wasn't in love with him, but she wanted to be in love, with someone, someone who could love her back. And James just wasn't that guy.

He spent most of his time in her apartment; he even had a key Bella gave him. But she now thought it was a really stupid thing to do. He would lie in her bed all day long, he wouldn't bathe, he used her computer all day and he ate all her food.

Alice always said that she was too nice to him; she had even given her advice on how to tell him to behave himself in her apartment. But it was as if he didn't get it. He would try to be nice to her, he would make her bed and wash the dishes he used, but after a week things would go back to normal.

Bella knew this had to end, but she just didn't know how to end it with him. Deep down she was afraid to be alone, she had gotten too used to his company; he made her laugh, and he would go with her wherever she wanted to go.

The guy wasn't a complete mess, he didn't do those things on purpose, it was just his personality, and Bella understood that about him, so she felt she had no right to ask him to change.

Of course whenever Bella told this argument to Alice, Alice would start saying that if she didn't want to change James, and she didn't like him 100 then she should just break up with him. But then Bella found herself in that place again.

If she broke up with him she knew she would spend a lot of time by herself, and she dreaded that thought. James wasn't all that bad, he was good company.

Bella entered the bar and headed to their usual table. Alice was already there waiting for her, she had ordered drinks for them.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Bella said as she sat on the chair in front of Alice and placed her tote bag on the table.

"Don't worry," Alice began, "I just got here myself."

Bella loved Alice so much; she was the perfect friend, always there for her. One of the great things about Alice was that she never judged her. Bella knew when Alice didn't agree with something she did, but Alice would always try to support her.

"My car broke down!" Bella began, taking a sip from the cocktail in front of her, and was happy to find it was a Cosmopolitan, Alice knew her so well.

"What?!" Alice said in-between laughs. "Well that was bound to happen, you should sell that old truck and buy a new car, you could buy a small girly car! They are so cute!"

Bella laughed at her friend's reaction. Alice got so exited when it came to buying things, anything. She would get all worked up and start making plans to see when they could go shopping.

"Yeah, this morning when I was on my way to the English building it wouldn't start," Bella said sighing. "I had to call the mechanic and he said he would go pick it up during the morning, he said he would call me tomorrow to tell me if they were able to find what was wrong with the car."

"Bella, honestly, you have to sell that thing, you're spending more money trying to keep it alive than you would spend on a new car!" Alice said still laughing.

"Yeah, yeah I know, the mechanic said they had a new guy who was great with old cars, he told me that maybe this guy would be able to fix it," Bella said hopeful.

She loved that old truck, she knew it was very expensive to try to maintain it but she had created a bond with the car, and she just couldn't see how she would be able to get rid of it.

"Well, promise me that if this guy can't fix it you'll sell it and buy a new one."

Bella rolled her eyes at her friend, but agreed to her plea.

"So is Jasper coming tonight?" Bella asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, he said he would be late because he had to pick up a friend, I told you about him, it's one of Jasper's childhood friends, he's moved her ´cause they offered him a job." Alice paused for a second to have a drink from her cocktail. "You'll love him, they guy is extremely hot, and he is such a gentleman, it would surprise you."

"I hope you are not trying to hook me up with him Alice, you know I have a boyfriend," Bella told her friend, trying to sound serious, but she knew Alice didn't consider James a real boyfriend.

"Well, you might like to call James your boyfriend, but when you meet Edward I'm sure you'll realize that there are real men out there who are actually good for you."

"James is good to me," Bella retorted, a little hurt. James could be many things, but he had always been good to her.

"Yeah, but you deserve a real man Bella, you should date a guy who could at least pay _his half _when you guys go out," Alice pointed out, narrowing her eyes, trying to make sure Bella was getting the message.

"You know he's had a hard time finding a job! If I don't pay for stuff then we would never go out!" Bella retorted to Alice.

"EXACTLY MY POINT!" Alice said, a little annoyed. "Bella, James is a nice guy, he's funny and all, but you can't possibly expect to have a future with him, the guy can't take you out to the movies for God's sake! and I really don't see what you guys have in common, she said bluntly at last.

"Oh c'mon Alice, you know I don't want to marry the guy, we are just…. having fun" Bella said, trying to hide the uncertainty she felt.

She really had no idea what she was doing with him. Yes, he was funny, the sex was great, and he was good company, but they had absolutely nothing in common.

Starting of by their personalities, he was too cynic, too negative, he made fun of other people's misery, and he was always complaining. Of course not everything about him was bad, a good thing was that he had no need to hide who he was, he would always say what was on his mind, and so people could either like him or hate him.

At first she had found him attractive because of his 'bad guy' image. He had around 11 tattoos, long hair and he dressed in a messy but sexy way. And then had those weird traits like that fact that he didn't smoke, and he drank every now and then. He was a box full of surprises and she liked that about him.

Alice had hated him at first, and then she started to find him rather amusing. But after a couple of months she decided she didn't like the guy, and she was more than sure that he didn't like her either. That's why Bella would never go out with both of them at the same time.

"Well," Alice began again, trying to sound as nice as possible, "I just hope you snap out of it soon and find someone better to have fun with."

Bella decided the James conversation was over, so she started talking about her classes and how much homework she had. She was about to graduate, so she had lots of essays to write and lots of books to read, but she enjoyed that.

"Hey, there's Jasper," Alice said all of a sudden, looking at the door. "And he's with Edward."

Bella turned around to see Jasper, she recognized his figure walking their way, and he was walking next to a guy Bella had never seen before.

She turned around to see Alice, who had an '_I told you so' _smile on her face.

"I told you he was hot," Alice said with a smug face.

Bella's eyes were wide as she turned again to take a better look at the guy walking next to Jasper.

He was taller than Jasper, and his body seemed to be stronger. He definitely had more muscles than Jasper. He had bronze hair, and it looked as if he paid little attention to it because it was really messy. He had piercing green eyes, his skin was very pale, and his features were almost perfect.

Jasper and the guy walked up to their table. Alice stood up and greeted Jasper with a sweet peck on the lips, then she headed to Edward and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Bella had a chance to study his body better from this perspective; he was wearing what seemed like a very old pair of jeans, because they were almost white and they where ripped in several places. He had a black t-shirt on and a grey jacket over it.

"Hey Bella," Jasper said to her.

She greeted him, giving him a kiss on the cheek, and then she looked at the guy with wondering eyes.

"Edward, this is Bella, Alice's best friend," Jasper introduced him.

Edward looked at her and smiled at the sight of her. He leaned over and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek, leaving Bella a little astounded.

She tried to hide her thrill; she had no idea why her body was reacting this way. Her heart started beating faster, and she could have sworn everyone in the room was able to hear it.

Jasper sat on one of the chairs in-between Bella and Alice, so Edward sat on the other chair in between them.

"I'm sorry we're late, we just finished moving all the boxes into Edward's new apartment, I had no idea a man could have so much stuff," Jasper said mocking his friend.

Edward smiled a crocked smile, which completely amazed Bella, and he brushed his hand through his hair. That explained why it was so messy, he was constantly messing it up.

"I don't have that much stuff, it's just that I couldn't find bigger boxes so I had to pack everything in small boxes. Unpacking that stuff is going to be a nightmare!" he said taking a deep breath.

Bella took a sip from her cocktail, but she ended up drinking everything that was left of it. She had to slow her heart rate somehow, and maybe alcohol would help her do that.

"We can help you," Alice offered suddenly. "Jasper and I have nothing to do tomorrow, and I'm sure Bella has nothing to do either."

"Oh no, I wouldn't trouble you guys like that! Besides I'm just meeting Bella here, so I think it would be a very bad impression if I make her help me unpack just a day after meeting her." Edward looked at Bella and gave her a sweet smile that made hear heart accelerate once again.

"Oh don't worry," Alice began before Bella could say anything, "Bella's used to this, and I think it would be great for her to be out of her apartment every now and then,"

"Hey!" Bella cut in, "I go out!" She pouted, making everyone laugh.

"Bella, I love you, but you have to be honest, ever since you started dating James you never go out! You always stay in with him!" Jasper added, giving her a comforting smile.

"Yeah, but I like to stay in." Then she suddenly looked at Edward and blushed a little. "Oh, I'm sorry, it's not you, I'd actually love to help you unpack, it's just that Alice and Jasper like to bother me just a little too much."

Edward looked at Alice and Jasper, who were just laughing, and then he looked at Bella, who looked completely annoyed at them.

"Well I wouldn't want to bother you… Alice and Jasper can help me, they really have nothing better to do," he said glaring them with evil eyes, an action that only made them laugh harder.

"No, no, it's no problem! I actually have nothing to do tomorrow, I just have to see if my car is alive and then I can go help you guys out."

"Wow, you are actually going to leave James alone on a Saturday?" Alice said in a mocking voice, which Edward didn't understand.

"I have a life besides him!" Bella retorted, a little annoyed.

Edward looked at Jasper a little confused, he had no idea what they were talking about, and he suddenly felt he was prying into something private.

"James is Bella's… boyfriend?" Jasper told Edward, hesitating a little with the word boyfriend.

Edward looked at Bella with an amused smile.

"It's just that ever since Bella started dating this guy she stopped going out, she spends most of her time in her apartment with him. It's a little annoying, I would have gotten tired of him a long time ago," Alice interrupted, trying to illustrate the situation to Edward.

"Oh," he said, finally understanding.

"It's just like you and Jasper" Bella said trying to defend herself, "when you guys started dating I would never see you! You would spend most of your time with him and I never complained! I didn't even complain when you left me to go live with him!" Bella said trying to act hurt, but she burst into laughter.

"Bella, honey," Alice began in between laughs, "it's different. Jasper and I are meant for each other, you and James… you guys…" Alice took her time to think of the precise word to explain their relationship. "Well, I think you guys are just having fun… like you said."

Bella flushed a little when she noticed Edward looking at her with questioning eyes. It was obvious he wanted to know what Alice meant by 'having fun', but she wasn't willing to explain it to him. She actually wanted to avoid the whole James subject.

She didn't know why, but suddenly she wanted to bury James deep in her memory and just concentrate on Edward. This man was too good looking to be true.

"So," she said suddenly, trying to change the subject. She looked at Edward to get his attention, "Why did you move here?"

"To make a long story short, I found a job at a design studio. I'm a graphic designer, and Jasper got me in touch with a guy in a studio here, so I applied for the job, they gave it me, and here I am!"

He smiled at her, his eyes locked with hers.

"Oh that's great, and you found an apartment real quick?" She asked, trying to keep the conversation.

She was actually afraid that if she gave them the chance, Alice and Jasper would start again with the whole James subject.

"Jasper helped me with that, I found a great place just like 15 minutes away from Dartmouth actually." Bella looked at Jasper with questioning eyes but he just smiled at her.

She rolled her eyes and went back to the conversation with Edward.

"That's a coincidence, I live 15 minutes away from Dartmouth as well, I'm studying there."

"Great, so we might be neighbors." He smiled that crooked smile and she felt her heart melt.

Bella looked to Jasper again, she was about to ask him if by any chance Edward's apartment was near hers.

"Oh, his apartment is like two blocks away from yours. It's that orange building just next to the bagel shop you go to have breakfast at," Jasper said, cutting in the conversation.

Bella shot him a menacing look, but Jasper just smirked more.

"They have great bagels," Bella said when she realized it wouldn't be so polite to say the words on her mind.

She was more than sure that Alice and Jasper had picked him that apartment on purpose. She was sure they hoped she and Edward would hook up and she would end that thing she had going on with James.

She wanted to prove them wrong, but she didn't want to force it. If fate wanted her to brake up with James, then there really wasn't much she could do.

"I think I need another drink," Bella said as she started to get up from her seat.

"I'll get it for you." Edward stood up.

"Oh, no no, don't worry, I'll get it myself," she said, a little uncomfortable. She couldn't remember the last time a guy had offered to go buy her something.

"Ok, at least let me go with you, I'll get something to drink as well." She hesitated for a second and then nodded.

Both of them headed towards the bar. It was just at the back of the room, next to the bathrooms. The place wasn't so big. It was a small bar they liked to go to whenever they were in the mood for drinking and talking.

Bella rested her elbows on the bar and waited for the bartender to take her order. Edward stood next to her, placing just one hand on the bar.

A bartender walked up to them.

"What can I get you?" he asked Bella.

"I'll have a cosmopolitan," she said to the man behind the bar. She looked over at Edward questioningly, to see what he wanted.

"I'll have a beer," he told the bartender.

The guy started walking behind the bar, making the Cosmopolitan for Bella, then he went to the freezer and grabbed a cold beer for Edward.

"So I guess it's a good thing we are almost neighbors; now I have someone to bother in the afternoons when I don't have work," Edward told her, leaning a little so she could hear him better. "Well, that's if your boyfriend doesn't mind me going over for a visit".

His comment shocked her for a second. Had he just told her he wanted to visit her?

"Um… he doesn't live with me, he's just there when he has nothing else to do. And I'd love it if you came over to visit me, I hate to be alone there," she told him, trying to make conversation.

"Ok then, so it's settled. I can keep you company whenever you feel lonely. Although we have to be careful because someday you might realize you don't want your boyfriend to visit you anymore." He smiled a crooked smile.

Was he making a move on her? She really doubted it, maybe that was just his way of being friendly, she was more than sure that a guy like Edward would never be interested in her. But he had just told her that she would probably get tired of James. She smiled to herself; she wouldn't mind breaking up with James if that meant that she was going to be with Edward.

The bar tender walked back to the bar and placed both drinks on it so they could get it. Bella opened her wallet to grab the, but the she noticed Edward handed the man a 20 bill.

"I'll pay for both of them."

Bella looked at him a little too embarrassed.

"No!" she said suddenly. "You don't have to buy me the drink."

"I know I don't have to," he said with his soft velvety voice, making her body shiver. He leaned over her a little so he could whisper to her ear, "I just want to."

He backed off and smiled at her. It took her a second to recover herself. His breath made her dizzy, and she was sure her legs were refusing to respond. She blushed more than she thought she would be able too, and grabbed the drink from the bar.

"Thanks," she said as they headed back to the table where Alice and Jasper where waiting for them.

* * *

**Ok so how was it? I really hope you guys liked it, cause it's a story I've grwon veyr fond of! So please please leave a review! Just tell me if you thought it was any good!  
**


	2. The Mechanic

**Chapter 2: The Mechanic**

_Coz I can feel it, baby  
I feel like I'm falling for you  
But I'm scared to, let go  
I'm scared coz my heart has been hurt so_

_Jem_

Bella opened the door to her apartment quietly, in case James was sleeping. He had an apartment just about half an hour away from hers, but he preferred to sleep in her place.

She was sure he hated his apartment, because it was a dump. It was always messy, she could even tell he never dusted the place because one time she'd passed her finger over the top of a table, and she had cleaned off a lot of dust with it. A few weeks later she had gone back to find that there was dust over the line her finger had left weeks before. There were layers upon layers of dust. He never had food in his place either, just frozen meals and cup noodles.

Those where some of the reasons why she hated going to his place. So, usually they just decided to stay in her place all the time, and she never complained.

When she opened the door she noticed the lights to her room were on, so James must have been awake.

She walked into the room and James was lying on her bed, wearing only his pajama pants (which she had bought for him), and he was very comfortably watching TV.

"Hey," he said, turning his head to look at her.

"Hey," she said back, taking off her coat and hanging it behind her door. She took off her shoes and started changing into her pajamas.

"Did you have fun?" he asked her.

"Yep," she responded bluntly. She had no idea why suddenly she felt a little irritated with his presence. She looked to the bed and saw that James had two dirty plates beside him and a half filled glass of something next to the bed. His clothes were scattered all around the room.

She started picking up his clothes.

"Bella," he complained, "leave the clothes there and come to bed with me."

She eyed him coldly and kept on doing what she was doing.

"Bellaaaa…." he complained again, pouting. It was actually very amusing to see him try to act cute.

"James, you know I can't sleep if my room is such a mess. Could you please wash those dishes?" she asked, trying to sound annoyed.

"Yep, in a while. Come here first."

She rolled her eyes and walked over to the bed to grab the dirty plates.

"Bella, I told you I'd wash them!" he said laughing.

"Yeah, but _in a while_ is not good enough for me."

James got out of the bed, grabbed the plates from Bella's hand, and went over to the kitchen to wash them.

She finished organizing the bedroom and then she jumped to the bed. James joined her after a few minutes and hugged her tightly. She tried to break free from his embrace automatically, but then she realized it was really stupid. She was comfortable with him.

So Bella allowed herself to relax and finally fell asleep in James' arms.

The next morning Bella got up before James, as usual. Since it was Saturday she was supposed to get the day off, and she had promised Edward, Alice and Jasper she would go help them unpack Edward's stuff. But first she had to call and see if her old truck had survived the night.

She picked up her phone and pressed a couple of buttons to call the mechanic's; she had the number on speed dial since she needed their assistance more often that she liked to.

"Yeah?" a husky voice said on the other end of the line.

"Um… hi, I'm Bella Swan, I'm calling about my Chevy pickup truck," she said a little unsure. She didn't recognize the voice, and she was pretty sure she knew every mechanic working at that shop.

Then she remembered that her mechanic had said something about a new guy working on her car; that had to be him.

"Oh yeah!" the voice said, a little too excited, "I took a look at you car yesterday. It just had some problems with the battery, but I managed to fix it, so it's good to go right now."

"Really?" Bella asked, a little bewildered. It usually took them over a week to just find out what was wrong with it. "That's fast."

"I was a very simple thing, but the guys here don't usually work with cars this old," he said, amusement in his voice.

"It's a nice car!" she said, trying to defend it.

"Yeah! It's a great car," the guy said apologetically. "I just meant that the guys here don't know how to work with cars like that. I, on the other hand, love to work on cars like yours."

She could have sworn the guy was smiling.

"Um… well… so I can go pick it up today?"

"Yep, whenever you want to, I'll be here all day," the guy said to her.

"Ok I'll be there in an hour." The faster she could pick up her car the faster her life would go back to normal.

She took a quick bath, had a bowl of cereal, and then went to her room to say goodbye to James. He was snoring, so that meant he would probably forget everything she was about to tell him, but she still tried.

She shook him a little, and he opened his eyes slowly to look at her.

"James, I'll go pick up my truck and then I'm going to help Jasper and Alice with something.

She figured there was no need to mention Edward.

James wasn't the jealous type, but she just didn't want to tell him about Edward.

"… 'kay," was all he managed to say before falling sleep again.

Bella had no problem finding a taxi, and she got to the shop in no time. Her old Chevy was parked outside, waiting for her.

She paid the driver and walked into the shop to look for the mechanic; she wasn't quite sure who she was looking for, but she figured that once she found a guy she didn't recognize that had to be him.

"Bella," an old, familiar voice called her name.

She turned around to see the owner of the shop standing behind her.

"Hi Mr. Smith," she said smiling. "I called earlier and someone told me my car was ready."

"Oh yeah, that Jacob worked wonders with your car. He was actually very excited when he saw it, I tell you the kid is a freak for old cars," he said, more to himself than to her.

"He's over there, under that black car. You should talk to him about a monthly visit to make sure your car is working fine," he advised.

"That would probably be a good idea right?" She had never thought about it, but maybe, if this guy was up to it, he could check her car once a month to make sure it was safe.

"Jacob!" Mr. Smith yelled through all the noise in the garage.

A man who looked just about Bella's age appeared from under a black car. He smiled up at her with the kindest smile she had ever seen, revealing his white teeth as he did. His long messy black hair was pinned back in a pony tail, but a few loose strands fell over his face.

He stood up to reveal that he was ten times taller than her, and had a body she had only dreamed about. She was now actually hesitating, wondering if the guy had a better body than Edward.

She felt his eyes study her, and she blushed. There was something about the way the guy looked at her that made her feel… self-conscious.

"Jacob, this is Bella Swan, the owner of the Chevy," Mr. Smith said to Jacob when he approached them. "Bella this is Jacob, the guy who worked wonders with your car."

"Nice to meet you," Bella said shyly.

He gave her a huge grin, which only made her laugh.

"Nice to meet you too…" he told her. "Do you wanna go check out the car?"

"Um… sure." She started following him to the red Chevy parked outside the garage.

"This is a great car! I'm glad you've taken such good care of it, it would be a shame to let this car die like that," he said, pointing to an old chassis that had no doors or glass.

"Yeah, I love my car, even if it's old. I actually think the car loves me as much as I love it," she said looking at her beloved car.

"I'm pretty sure you are a very lovable person, so I wouldn't be surprised if the car loved you that much," he said as he opened the door of the car.

Bella blushed at his comment, but she tried to hide it. It wasn't normal for her to feel attracted to men this way, she liked James and that was usually enough to make her forget about the rest of the male population. But it seemed as if the universe was intent on making her notice other men.

"Ok , so the problem was with the battery. I fixed it, and I also cleaned your motor because it was almost clogged." He paused for a second and then he said cheerfully, " you should bring it more often so we can give it maintenance."

"Yeah I was actually thinking on asking you about that," she was trying to act as normal as possible. "So you think it's a good idea to give it a once over every month?"

"Um…" Jacob began. "Yeah, that's probably the best idea. You could bring it here, or I could go to your place, so you don't have to come all the way down here."

"Oh no!" Bella began. "I don't mind coming down here; I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"It's no trouble, I would actually enjoy it. I'm new here so I'd like to move around as much as I can, just so I can get used to town."

"Really? Where are you from?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"I'm from a reservation called La Push, in Washington State," he began. "I studied mechanics and decided to try my luck elsewhere. I also wanted to travel a little and after a while I ended up here," he said with a huge smile on his face, revealing his pearly white teeth again.

"Well, aren't I lucky? I have my own mechanic, all the way from Washington State," Bella said finding his good humor contagious.

His eyes locked with hers for a moment, before slowly moving to take in the rest of her. It was impossible for her to hide the blush that was spreading over her cheeks once again.

"Well, I have your number so I'll probably call you to schedule our appointment," Jacob began.

"That sounds like a good idea," Bella said.

She played with her purse nervously, suddenly realizing that was her cue to leave, but she just felt too comfortable talking to this man.

"Um…" Jacob began, and she suddenly wondered if he was feeling as nervous as she was feeling, but she doubted she had that effect on men. "Listen, since I'm new here and I only know the guys from the garage, and they are not that social, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go out with me, just so I can get to know the town."

She considered his request for a second. Any other day she would have said 'no' immediately, she had a boyfriend, and it wasn't a very nice thing to go out with a complete stranger when you had a boyfriend. But there was something deep down telling her she had to say yes to the guy.

It was that same voice that made her tell Edward she would help him unpack. Any other day she would have gotten out of the situation in a heartbeat, but now something had changed. She was finally feeling that maybe being with James wasn't such a good idea. That maybe if she broke up with him she didn't have to fear being alone.

"That would be nice," she said finally. "You just have to call and we'll make the plan; I just need it to be one day my boyfriend isn't staying over at my place," she quickly threw in.

She would go out with him, but she'd had to mention James just to be safe. She wasn't sure she would be able to mention him later.

She noticed that his smile had faded a little when she mentioned a boyfriend, but a second later the smile was back on his face.

"Great!" he told her.

"Oh, how much do I owe you?" she asked when she noticed she hadn't paid him.

"Oh no, don't worry, this one is on me."

She blushed. She didn't like it when people gave her things, and she was even more embarrassed by the fact that the mechanic wasn't charging her for fixing up her truck.

"No! Please, tell me how much it is," she insisted. But Jacob kept on telling her he wouldn't charge her.

After five minutes he finally convinced her, and she got in her car. She waved him goodbye as he walked back to the garage.

As if summoned, her phone started ringing as soon as Jacob disappeared. She read Alice's name on the screen and answered the call.

"I'm on my way there right now," she said to her friend.

"Oh ok, was everything ok with the car?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, they have this new mechanic and he fixed it up pretty good. He even told me he wouldn't charge me for the work!" Bella told her friend.

"What?!" Alice asked, a little surprised.

"I'll tell you about it when I get there, I can't drive and speak on the phone at the same time," Bella said as she maneuvered her car through the street.

"Ok, but wait!" Alice screamed through the phone. "Was he hot?"

"Yeah I think so," Bella said innocently.

"AWWWWWWWWW THAT'S SO CUTE! Ok get here fast so you can tell me about it," Alice told Bella.

"Ok, be right there," Bella said as she hung up the phone.

Bella parked her car outside the small building. She took a deep breath and walked out of the car, she was about to call Alice to ask her what the apartment number was, but before she could dial the number she heard her name being called behind her.

She turned around to see Edward walking her way. He was holding a paper bag with the Bagel Shop logo on it, and he looked pretty messy. His hair was the same as last night, and he was wearing the same pair of old jeans, only this time he was wearing a very old pair of flip flops that he probably used as slippers, and he was wearing a white t-shirt that looked pretty dirty.

"Hey," she said to him as he approached her.

She had to remind herself to breathe when Edward reached her. Even when he looked messy and dirty he looked hot, it gave him a 'roughly handsome' look.

"You made it," he told her with a smile on her face that almost made her heart stop.

"Um…" she dabbled for a second before she could find the words. "Yeah, I went to pick up my truck from the mechanic's."

"What was wrong with it?" he asked as they both started walking towards the building.

"Something with the battery… I really didn't bother to ask for details," she told him.

Also, she was a little captivated with the mechanic, so she hadn't really been interested in her truck. But now, standing next to Edward, she suddenly wondered what it was that she had seen in Jacob, Edward seemed to be the perfect man!

"You should ask him next time! It's not safe to ride around in a car that may have something wrong with it," he told her, and she could have sworn he was genuinely concerned for her safety.

"Um… yeah, it's a very old truck so it always has something wrong. But this guy was a new mechanic and he specializes in old cars, so I think he's going to be very happy to work with mine."

He raised one eyebrow at her comment, making her blush.

"Well then I'm glad you have a good mechanic. I would hate it if something happened to you because you were driving a dangerous old car."

She looked at him, amazement in her eyes. She hadn't expected that.

Before she could answer him Alice appeared in the hallway. She was saying something to Jasper, but then she caught eye of Bella walking towards the apartment.

"Bella!" she greeted her happily, "you made it,"

Bella knew Alice had noticed she was blushing, but decided to just ignore that fact and act as if nothing had happened. As hard at that was. It wasn't a very easy thing to do, ignore a comment like the one Edward had just thrown at her.

"Ok so tell me about the hot mechanic!" Alice screamed in the hallway, a little too excited for Bella's taste.

She'd noticed that Edward had turned his head to look at her with an amused expression when Alice spoke the words 'hot mechanic', but she decided to ignore that too.

"Oh yeah, well, he's from Washington State, and he's been moving around the country, working in garages fixing up old cars," she told her friend as they walked inside the messy apartment.

She noticed that Edward was paying a little too much attention to every word she was speaking, making her a little self-conscious, but she decided to suppress that feeling.

"That's nice," Alice told her. "But was he really hot? Can you imagine how great it would be? Hooking up with a sexy mechanic," her eyes were sparkling.

"Hey!" they heard Jasper complain from behind the room.

"Honey you know I'd never do that! It would be great for Bella though," Alice said with an evil smile. "So what did he look like?"

"He was very tall, and had tanned skin, long black hair… oh, and he had the greatest smile I have ever seen!" she added. She didn't find it necessary to say that she thought Edward's smile was better.

"Oh!! That's great!" Alice sounded really excited.

"He asked me if I would be willing to take him out one of these days, just so he could get used to the town and everything, since he's new here."

"I'm sure that's what he had in mind," Jasper added sarcastically.

Alice rolled her eyes and decided to ignore Jasper's comment. Then she started crowing happily about how great it was for Bella to meet an interesting guy.

"Well who would have thought that you would find yourself in this situation," Alice said lowering her voice, so only Bella could hear her.

"What situation?"

"Well, you are dating a very annoying guy and then you meet Edward, who is like the perfect guy for you. Then, a day later you meet a hot mechanic, and he is just what we need to make your life a little more interesting," Alice used that conniving tone she used when she was starting to make plans.

"You are just going to let her go out with a complete stranger?" Edward asked Alice all of a sudden.

"What? What do you mean?" Alice asked, playing dumb.

"You know nothing of this guy! For all you know he could be a serial killer wanted in dozens other states, and he's here because he's escaping the law."

"You're right… I was just too excited by the fact that Bella met someone," Alice sounded a little disappointed.

"Hey, I have a boyfriend, so you don't have to worry about me meeting someone," Bella shot back.

"Yes Bella, I was just happy you met someone _other_ than James," Alice shot dryly. "Maybe we should all go out with you and the guy, just so we can make sure he won't rape you or anything, just so we can make sure he doesn't hack you to pieces with an axe or anything… What do you think guys?"

Edward was trying to pay attention to the conversation the girls were having but Jasper kept on handing him boxes.

The whole scene made Alice chuckle. She found it amusing, how Edward was trying hard to act cool, but he just couldn't help staring at Bella from time to time.

"That's fine with me," Jasper said concentrating on the box.

"I actually think that is a great idea," Edward said, staring at Bella intently.

His staring didn't go unnoticed by Alice, who smiled to herself.

* * *

**Hi guys! So what did you think? Please, please, please leave a review to tell me your comments, I'd love to know what I can fix in this story, and I'd also love to know if you guys are liking it so far!**

I'll post the new chapter as soon as I finish revising it!


	3. Getting to know you

**Chapter 3: Getting to know you**

_I just wanna feel real love,  
Feel the home that I live in,  
I got too much love,  
Running through my veins, going to waste_

_Robbie Williams - Feel_

Bella tried to keep the subject of James or Jacob off the table. She was having too much fun to even consider remembering them. When she was around Edward it seemed stupid to her that she might even consider other men. Edward was the ultimate gentleman, the most gorgeous, sweet, educated man she had ever met.

He _did_ act a little too distant for her taste at times, but, then again, they had just met. She knew that to consider something happening with him was just utterly stupid though; a man like him would never fix his eyes on a girl like her. She was more the 'friend' type of girl to him.

But she would surely take advantage of that friendship.

"By the way, I talked to Rose today," Alice began all of a sudden; she was moving around the room, opening boxes and taking their contents out. "She told me they had to cut their trip short because there are some storms in the coast. They'll be here the day after tomorrow."

"That's too bad for them! Emmett was actually looking forward to seeing some sun!" Bella said to Alice.

"He'll survive," Edward cut in. "Besides, he told me he had planned to go to Mexico in the summer, to Cancun or something like that."

Bella looked at Edward a little confused, she had no idea Edward knew Rosalie and Emmett.

"You know them?"

"Emmett is my cousin; I actually met Jasper because of Emmett. They went to the same school, and we would usually spend the afternoons together," Edward explained.

They were in the middle of the whole unpacking business when Alice got a phone call. It was someone from the fashion magazine where she worked as an intern.

"Hi, Mrs. Jenkins," Alice said answering her phone. "Uh-um, sure, yeah, no problem, I'll be right there." She hung up her phone and looked up at her friends with a bummed expression.

"You have to go!!" Bella complained before anyone else could say anything.

"Yeah! They can't find some papers and I know where they are. They need them to finish the final editing on this month's issue, so I have to go."

"I'll drive you," Jasper offered immediately.

"Oh no honey, you can stay with them, I'll come pick you up after we are done," Alice said as moved around the room picking up her belongings.

"Nonsense, I don't want you driving alone," Jasper continued.

"Jasper it's only 4 o'clock! I'll be completely fine!"

Then Alice looked at Bella and Edward, and her face lit up.

"You know what, you'd better drive me. We don't know what could happen to me, driving alone at this time of the day," she told Jasper, who got up from his seat immediately and started picking up his things as well.

"This sucks!" Bella complained.

"Yeah I know, but you guys can go on unpacking. If I finish fast enough we might be able to make it back, but I won't promise anything."

"Don't worry Alice," Edward began. "I don't want you to feel like you have to help me. Bella and I have got it from here; you go to your thing at the magazine." The he turned to Bella and looked at her with apologetic eyes.

"Unless you want to go, which I would understand."

She blushed and turned to Alice to avoid Edward's stare.

"Nonsense!" Alice said before Bella could say anything. "Bella has nothing to do today, she'd be more than happy to stay here and help you."

Bella glared at Alice before turning back to Edward, and giving him a kind smile.

"I'd be glad to stay and help you Edward." She was feeling a little uncomfortable with the situation.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind if you wanted to go," Edward continued, but he was looking at her with the sweetest expression in his eyes which almost made Bella's heart melt.

"Oh give me a break!" Alice said, almost yelling at them. "She already said she'd stay! So be nice to her, don't scare her away, and we'll call you guys later."

Alice grabbed Jasper's arms and headed to the door. "BYE!" she screamed from the hallway.

Bella and Edward looked at each other a little confused. Edward didn't know Alice that well, but Bella knew her very well, and she knew Alice had something up her sleeve; it wasn't like her to leave so willingly when she was having a good time.

"Sooo…" Bella said looking at Edward, trying to ease the tension that had suddenly formed in the room.

"Sooo…" he copied her, smiling a crooked smile. She felt her heart skip a beat or two, and she was pretty sure that, once again, it was more than obvious that she was blushing.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked. She looked around the room, suddenly hoping to have something to do because the electricity she was feeling was killing her.

She was sure she was imagining the whole thing because there was no way Edward could be feeling as nervous as she was; he looked so poised.

"Um… maybe we could just finish with my room? I need to organize my clothes because otherwise I'll have to sleep in just my underwear again, and it gets pretty cold around here," he said nonchalantly.

Bella tried to suppress her uncontrollable blushing and nodded. She started walking to his room, trying to keep him from seeing her face.

Alice was the one who had been unpacking the stuff in his room, so thanks to her uncanny ability to unpack any bag of clothes within 3 seconds flat, it was pretty much done. Bella just helped him organize the shirts on the closet.

They were in the middle of the whole 'clothes in the closet' operation when Edward suddenly broke the uncomfortable silence that was pretty much killing Bella.

"I guess you are used to the cold around here, aren't you?" Talking about the weather and the temperature seemed to be a good topic to break the ice.

"Um… yeah, I'm from Phoenix. It was little difficult at first, but you get used to it. Having someone to sleep with helps a lot, you know, the body heat," she said casually.

Suddenly she realized the words that had just come out of her mouth, and she turned around to look at his expression. She was expecting the blush to reappear, but when she looked at his expectant eyes she just started laughing, relaxing the atmosphere a little.

"I mean, when I first came here I lived with Alice, and I used to share the bed with her because we were always freezing! That's what I meant! It's not like I try to find random people to sleep in my bed and warm me up," she babbled, making him laugh even harder.

"Yeah, I get your point! I guess it's nice then, that you found James after Alice moved out. You still had someone to warm you up when she was gone."

She noticed he had that crooked smile on his face, which probably meant he wasn't saying everything that was on his mind.

"Um… yeah I guess you could say so, although I'm sure he was gladder to have found me than I was of having found him," she said casually, going back to the mission of folding shirts.

"What do you mean?" he asked, passing her a bunch of folded t-shirts.

"Well, when Alice left I was a little devastated. But after a week of living alone, I was actually very happy, so I had no need of someone to _warm me up,_" she told him, looking at him with a clever smile which caused him to smile as well.

"So why does Alice hate him so much?" he asked her as he passed her the final bunch of t-shirts.

"She thinks he's not right for me. James is too… too serious, and we are both very different. He complains a lot, and well… we want different things for our future, so we are completely wrong for each other in that sense, but I guess Alice just hates him because he's a bit… unsociable and a little unpleasant every now and then."

She turned to look at his expression for a second, and he looked as if he was studying her words very carefully. She suddenly felt afraid of what he might have to say, so she decided to sidetrack him.

"We are all done here. Maybe we could start fixing up the kitchen; it looks like a battlefield in there!"

He looked at her and smirked as he stood up from his place and started walking behind her, heading to the kitchen.

"It's just weird," he said as they reached it.

"What is?" She knew perfectly well what he was talking about, but she wanted to delay the question as much as she could.

"I'll start by placing the cutlery in here," she interrupted him.

He just nodded, and then headed to open a few boxes that contained dishes and pans.

"I mean, you talk about him as if he wasn't someone important to you, like you are with him just because…" He paused for a second, and then turned to look at her. "I mean, the guy seems to be a piece of work. But, and correct me if I'm wrong, shouldn't you be dating someone who you find completely appealing to you, not someone who just makes you laugh once in a while?"

She knew he was completely right, she'd known that all along. She was just too afraid to think of the possibility of breaking up with James.

"Yeah I know… I just, I like him. He's a good person, and he cares for me, in his own weird way." Bella paused for a second trying to find the correct words, but it was hard for her to concentrate when she knew Edward was staring at her the way he was.

"I'm not in love with him, but I care for him enough to know that if I break up with him it would be a little hard on both of us. I'd like for us to be friends after we break up, so I'm thinking that if I make him get tired of me maybe breaking up will be easier".

"Bella," Edward began. She felt her heart accelerate when he said her name; he pronounced it in such a perfect manner. And the way he said it, it seemed as if her name existed just to be pronounced by those lips.

"Bella, I doubt that _any_ man could ever get tired of you," he said, locking his eyes with hers, sending shivers all through her body.

She felt her face blush, and had to turn around and occupy her hands with something before she jumped him right then and there.

"You should break up with him," Edward continued as he finished placing all the dishes and utensils he owned on the kitchen table. "You would probably find a better man in no time."

_Unless that man is you, I'm not interested, _Bella thought to herself.

"Yeah, I'm afraid I'm headed down that path. It'll probably be over sooner rather than later," she said, more to herself than to him.

"How about you? Don't you have a girlfriend?" She'd asked him to try and keep the conversation flowing, but the truth was that she was really interested in his answer.

"No," he told her, while he moved the dishes to the sink so he could start washing them. "I had a girlfriend once, but it didn't work out so I'm single and happy".

He smiled at her sweetly, and at that second she was sure that if she survived until the end of the night it would be a miracle. If he kept flashing those smiles at her she was sure her heart would stop.

"Alice seems to have a good time talking about your love life though," he continued, shifting the topic back to her.

"Yeah, I like to think I'm her reason to live, but I think Jasper is becoming even more indispensable than I am."

"Yeah, I think Jasper is pretty important to her… It's just that I've never seen a person so intent on trying to make someone brake up with their partner."

She took a deep breath, knowing what he was talking about, but still feeling that maybe if she played dumb he would change the topic.

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Well she seemed just too excited by the fact that you had met a _hot mechanic." _The way he said those last words made her burst into laughter.

"Oh, yeah, Alice gets excited like that every time I talk to a guy. Every time a guy even looks my way she starts making wedding plans, it's a little ridiculous," she said laughing.

"Well, today you did agree to go out with the mechanic, so I'm guessing that you are encouraging her."

"Yeah, but that was me just being nice to the guy. You guys are going out with us! So, it's not a date or anything like it, besides… I'm sure he wasn't interested in me," she said, a little too sure of herself.

"How can you tell if a guy is interested in you?"

She looked at him and he had that expectant look in his eyes.

"I'm actually very bad when it comes to realizing if a guy likes me, I can never tell!" she said, a little annoyed by that fact.

He just started laughing.

"Well, that's a good thing I suppose," he said, between laughs.

"Good for whom?!" She asked annoyed. That was one of her traits she didn't like that much.

"For me," he said with a huge smile on his face. "I think the mechanic liked you, that's why he asked you to go out with him."

She was about to ask him about the 'for me' line, but the second line had sidetracked her. She was pretty sure Jacob was not interested in her.

Before he could say anything else she decided she'd had enough, she didn't want to talk about her love life or future prospects any more.

"Ok, I'm tired of speaking about myself and my love life, why don't you do the talking now?" she asked as she finished with the cutlery.

"What do you want to know?" he asked her as he looked at her with a sexy smile on his face.

She was sure those astounding smiles were not on purpose. The man was too perfect, she was more than sure that those dazzling smiles were just in his nature. He didn't do them on purpose. If he knew he could do them, then he probably wouldn't do them for her.

"Um…" she hesitated for a second, realizing there really was nothing specific she wanted to know. "Ok, Jasper told me you have a new job here, what do you do?"

"I'm a graphic designer, I paint, take pictures, that sort of stuff… I make the propaganda for all those products you buy," he explained.

"That's cool," she said actually impressed.

It was as if she was the weird one of the group! Alice and Jasper where journalists and worked at magazines, in advertisement, Edward was a graphic designer, Rosalie worked for a company where she basically sold vintage cars in an agency and Emmett worked with her.

She was the only one who was not involved in the whole advertisement business.

"Yep, I like it," he added. "It looks like we are done."

He was right, they had managed to unpack and organize the whole mess. Now all that was left was to decorate the place a little so it would look cozier.

Bella checked her watch as they both walked into the living room. It read 8:30 p.m.

"It's still early," Edward said, noticing the move. "So do you want to grab something to eat? It's on me." The dazzling crooked smile was back on his face again. It made it a little difficult for her to say no.

That smile made it a little difficult for her to say no.

"Why don't we just order a pizza and buy a couple of beers?" she asked, raising her shoulders and smiling at him. She really didn't feel like going out.

"That's a great idea. I'll just go change into something clean so we can go buy the beers. Could you order the pizza?"

"Sure," she said walking over to her cell phone.

After Edward disappeared into his room and Bella called for the pizza, she took a seat in one of the cozy couches he had.

The apartment was quite comfortable; it had one master bedroom and a second bedroom, which Edward was going to use as a studio. It had the living room/dining room, the kitchen and one bathroom.

When she sat down on one of the couches, the first thing Bella realized was that Edward hadn't closed his bedroom door properly. The second thing she realized was that, sitting here, she had a very clear view of his _very_ naked back. She actually felt her heart stop at the sight of it, a thousand fantasies roamed through her head.

His arms were very muscular, and when reached out to grab his shirt the muscles on his flexed showing off his toned body.

He put on his shirt without changing his ragged jeans, and he slipped into a pair of sneakers. He combed his hair with his hands and then he headed out to the living room to meet Bella.

She tried too hard to stop her wandering eyes from evaluating every inch of him. So she stood up from her place, and walked over to grab her purse.

"Let's go," he said, holding the door for her.

"We could take my car," he said when they reached the sidewalk.

Bella noticed that the only two cars parked there were her red Chevy and a silver Volvo.

She looked at him with questioning eyes, and he just smirked.

"It was my dad's, he bought it for himself last year, but this year he decided to buy a Mercedes so he handed me down this car."

"Lucky bastard," was all Bella managed to utter, making him laugh.

"Let's go," he said, opening first the passenger door so she could slide into the car and then he walked around to open his door.

They drove from the apartment to the convenience store and back in less than 15 minutes. The man drove like a mad man. Bella had felt that she didn't know him well enough to ask him to drive slower, but she'd been terrified through the whole ride.

They had to wait 15 more minutes for the pizza to arrive. When it got there they went to the living room and placed the open box on the small coffee table he had placed the open box on a small coffee table. They opened their beers and just relaxed on the couch.

"You know, we did a great job! Alice is going to be proud," Bella said, looking around the room.

"Yeah it looks nice," he said smiling at her.

She suddenly noticed Edward was looking at her intently, almost studying her. She felt a little self-conscious since she wasn't used to having a man look at her that way.

"What?" she asked, trying to stop his staring.

"Nothing", he said taking a drink from his beer and finishing off his pizza slice. "You just… well don't get mad at me," he said suddenly, startling her a little.

"I won't get mad", she said, curious to know what he was thinking.

"Well…" he began, "Jasper told me about you before I moved here. He said that you were one of the most beautiful women on the planet, after Alice of course," he rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I was just thinking that he was right, you are very beautiful."

Bella felt her cheeks blush immediately. She was sure smoke could be seen coming out of her ears.

"Thanks," she said shyly, while she finished her beer.

* * *

**AN: Hey! So sorry it took me so long to update. I was a little sad so I refused to open my computer in like two weeks. But I'm back!! I'll finish this story! I swear! So thanks for all the reviews! And you know the deal, please leave me a review, I just like to know if I'm doing something wrong or if you guys are liking the story :D**

**Bye!**


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